22nd September 2016 | International Solidarity Movement, Ramallah-team | Bil’in, occupied Palestine
Approximately fourty soldiers invaded the central West Bank town of Bil’in early morning of September 22nd. The army confiscated at least three laptops, one hard-drive, five phones, and two camera memory cards from the homes of six local activists. Bil’in community members feel this was part of an ongoing attempt to break the spirit of the town and disrupt the ability for community members to share their stories on social media.
Israeli forces in Palestinian family home Photo credit: Haitham al-Khatib
The soldiers barged into Bil’in at 2:30 A.M., waking up entire households, including several children. They then interrogated the activists, and haphazardly searched through their entire homes. Ashad Abu Rahmah, who is attaining his masters in Business Administration, realized after the soldiers left his home that they had taken his computer hard drive. “They want to break our courage and willingness to post anything about Bil’in on social media and news sources,” states Ashad. “But they will not succeed in this,” he continues.
The army suggested they would return the stolen items to some, but historically, promises such as this have been little more than empty words. Haitham Al Khatib, who filmed the invasion says, “I am still waiting for them to return my car, and video recording devices which they confiscated from me in a night raid before three months”.
Ashraf Abu Rahmah, whose home was one of those raided, saw the loss alone of items totaling around 4,500 shekel worth of technology. Ashraf has spent significant time in prison from consistent arrests. In 2008, while blindfolded and handcuffed as caught on tape, Ashraf was shot in the foot by a soldier. He is also the brother of Bassem and Jawaher Abu Rahmah, both of whom were killed by by Israeli army in Bil’in. For families like Ashraf’s in particular, it’s incredibly important to have access to cameras and computers in order to share internationally the stories of what takes place in Bil’in.
Additionally, the homes of Rateb Abu Rahmah, Abdullah Abu Rahmah, Bassil Mansour, Muhammed al-Khatib and Ahmad Abu Rahmah were also raided.
Watch a video of Israeli forces storming into the homes of Bil’in activists.
Night raids have deep psychological impacts on children and adults alike. Many community members struggle with persistent nightmares and Post-Traumatic-Stress-Disorder. Raids such as these have been a consistent disruption in the town of Bil’in for over seven years, with no sight to an end of this terrorizing tactic.
After similar raids in the past, the town has seen an increase in arrests of non-violent activists for resisting the illegal annexation of Bil’in to the illegal Israeli settlement Modi’in Illit. But this raid will not deter the community from attending nor documenting the weekly demonstrations which have taken place for the past 11 years against the illegal annexation of their land.
Israeli forces jeep in Bil’in at night Photo credit: Haitham al-Khatib
7th July 2016 | International Solidarity Movement, al-Khalil team | Qalandia Refugee Camp, occupied Palestine
The holy month of Ramadan has come to an end. But in Palestine, as in Iraq, Syria, Turkey and too many other places, Muslim families are not able to enjoy this special time of the year in peace and comfort. On Sunday night at 11pm, more than 1000 Israeli soldiers, according to locals’ estimations, entered Qalandia Refugee Camp in the Occupied West Bank. The huge military incursion sparked clashes in which 15 Palestinians were shot. Occupation Forces used live ammunition and rubber coated steel bullets on civilians while firing tear gas and stun grenades at approaching ambulances, preventing Palestinian Red Crescent medics from reaching the wounded.
Red Crescent ambulance damaged by Israeli forces
Among the injured was a 19 year old girl and a 15 year old boy, each shot with live ammunition and brought to the hospital in serious condition. The army entered the camp to demolish the homes of the families of two young men, Anan Habsah and Issa Asaaf, both 21, who carried out knife attacks and killed one soldier in East Jerusalem on December 23rd last year. Both were killed by soldiers while carrying out the attacks, so the demolition of the homes comes only as a form of collective punishment to terrorize the families and the people in Qalandia, who repeatedly suffer from night raids and house demolitions as well as beatings and arrests by the Israeli occupation forces.
Anan’s family first evacuated their home in January when the Israeli high court announced their decision to demolish the houses. The displaced family members lived spread across the area, staying at friends’ and family’s homes in Ramallah and elsewhere in Qalandia for two months until the lawyer suggested they could move back in in March. The father, Abu Saleh, refused to leave his home during the two month period however, staying in a tent outside the building. Three weeks ago the two families were yet again told to evacuate their homes and were informed that the demolition would take place within five days. However, the exact date of the demolition was not disclosed. Sunday night it finally happened without advance notice, and only two days before the end of Ramadan and the beginning of Eid celebrations.
In the ruins of his family home
Issa and his family have experienced severe trauma at the hands of occupation forces before, when he and his two younger sisters were brutally assaulted by Israeli soldiers at a checkpoint near East Jerusalem. The incident left one of Issa’s sisters unable to speak for three months, and caused the Assaf family significant distress and anguish.
Both Issa and Anan were imprisoned for significant periods of time; Anan at age fifteen for a period of eight months, and Issa for seven months in the year before his death.The families’ suffering did not end there, however. In the week following Issa’s release from prison, he was again assaulted at his home in Qalandia when soldiers dragged him from his home in the middle of the night and beat him in the street without justification.
The Habsah family also bears the long lasting scars of pain and trauma. Anan’s imprisonment as a child devastated the family, and they say their boy was never the same afterwards. “I know he did not want to die … but when a boy is put in jail, deprived of sleep, and deprived of his childhood, something in him changes,” said Anan’s uncle.
Inside the Asaaf family home
When we arrived on Monday morning, neighbors and relatives had already begun to gather in support of the families. Anan’s aunt explained to us that this is the third time her family had been forcibly displaced; first in 1948, when the family was expelled from their home in West Jerusalem, and later again in 1975 when their modest home in the refugee camp was destroyed for the first time.
UNRWA spokesman Chris Gunness condemned the demolitions on Monday, stating that punitive home demolitions “inflict distress and suffering on those who have not committed the action which led to the demolition, and they often endanger people and property in the vicinity.” A 2005 study by the Israeli army itself concluded that home demolitions are not effective as a deterrent or punitive measure, but the practice still continues. According to the Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions, about fifty thousand residential structures have been destroyed by Israel since 1967.
“This is psychological warfare. In the whole camp of more than ten thousand people, no one slept [last night], and they did not go to work today,” Adnan Habsah, the uncle of Anan said. Qalandia Refugee Camp has long been subjected to various forms of collective punishment by Israeli forces, and is severely affected by all aspects of the Illegal Occupation. The camp is located within area “C” and greater (East) Jerusalem, near the main checkpoint between Ramallah and Jerusalem and beside the apartheid wall. According to the UNRWA, the construction and expansion of the Wall in the early 2000s has drastically affected the economic situation in the camp by isolating it from the Israeli job market and Jerusalem. According to the most recent data, Qalandia’s unemployment rate is as high as 40 percent, compared to Occupied Palestine’s overall rate of 26.6 percent.
The Camp was originally established to house some 5,000 Palestinians who were displaced by the 1948 Nakba. Today, according to Afaq Environmental Magazine, the population of Qalandia Refugee Camp has reached about 14,000. Under the 1993 Oslo Agreement, the whole territory of Qalandia Refugee Camp is classified as area “C,” where Israel retains full control over security and administration related to the territory; however, Qalandia camp, like other Palestinian refugee camps, is under the administrative control of UNRWA.
As the uncle of Anan said when we spoke to him on Monday, “This is a UN refugee camp. The whole world owns this place. You cannot destroy it.”
18th May 2016 | International Solidarity Movement, Al-Qud team |Al-Quds, Occupied Palestine
On Wednesday we sat with Abu Sadam in the rubble of all that remains of his family’s house, in Hisbet Wadi Joz, East Jerusalem. Early Tuesday morning at about 2am occupying forces arrived with a digger to demolish the house. The Israeli authorities have planned a national park and his home is in the way. Although the house was on Waqf land (The Jerusalem Islamic Waqf is a trust best known for controlling and managing buildings and land on and around Haram Al-Sharif), because it was built after the occupation in 1967 it is not protected.
The family were given three minutes notice to vacate the house and were not allowed to remove their furniture and belongings . Although some of the larger pieces were removed (thrown) from the house by the Israeli military, much has been broken or lost under the rubble. There are sixteen people in the family, most of them children. They are now homeless and all they have to protect them from the elements is a tarpaulin sheet .The demolition was aggressive and the occupying forces used physical violence against Abu Sadam, one of the children and internationals who were present at the time. The children are now frightened and traumatised.
Today, Abu Sadam’s older sons have been searching East Jerusalem for a house that they can afford to rent. However they have so far been unable to find a landlord willing to take on such a large family at a price they can afford. It is also possible that they will be evicted from the land.
As if having your house demolished were not enough, the family also have to pay for the privilege. Based on the bills received for other demolitions, Abu Sadam estimates that his bill will be around 100,000 shekels, (about $26,000), an enormous sum and impossible for the family to find.
Abu Sadam said that he hadn’t been able to sleep for months, worrying about the demolition that was hanging over the heads of his family, but last night he slept well, knowing that he no longer had anything to lose.
The family are calling for solidarity and support in the immediate future and would welcome visitors to join them as they fight the Kafkaesque situation in which they find themselves
If you want to help please contact: palreports@gmail.com
15th May 2016 | International Solidarity Movement, al-Khalil team | Occupied Palestine
Today, 68 years ago, the state of Israel was created on the Palestinian peoples’ home. The anniversary falls after a winter and spring with an escalation in violence and arrests of Palestinians, ever-expanding Israeli settlements in the West Bank and the Palestinian capital of Jerusalem, as the de facto take over by Israel of settlements in and around the city. It is estimated that there are approximately 600,000 Israeli settlers living in the West Bank, including Jerusalem.
For the Palestinians it is remembered as Yawm an-Nakba, meaning “Day of the Catastrophe” or just Nakba Day. During the 1948 Palestine War, an estimated 700,000 Palestinians fled or were Expelled, and Hundreds of Palestinian towns and villages were depopulated and destroyed. These refugees and their descendants number several million people today, divided between Jordan (2 million), Lebanon (427,057), Syria (477,700), the West Bank (788,108) and the Gaza Strip (1.1 million), with at least another quarter of a million internally displaced Palestinians in Israel and many more around the world. Later, a series of laws passed by the first Israeli government prevented them from returning to their homes, or claiming their property. They, along withmany of their descendants remain refugees. The expulsion of the Palestinians has since been described by some historians as ethnic cleansing.
Photo Credit: Muphta.org
Many dispossessed Palestinians continue to hold and treasure the keys to their lost homes, and the key has become a symbol of Palestinian right to return home. United Nations Resolution 194, passed immediately following the Nakba, declares the right of all refugees displaced and dispossessed by the Zionist militias to return to their homes. Almost a million had registered with the UN by 1950, and today there are over 4 million with UN-registered claims against Israel. Compliance with 194 was one of the conditions for Israel’s admission to the UN, to which they agreed but which they have never honored. This right is enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights to which all UN member states are obliged to conform, and following 194 has been re-confirmed by many subsequent UN resolutions. It remains an international demand upon Israel. But Israel has refused to consider this right throughout the various iterations of the “peace process” since the Palestinian refugees return would jeopardize their Jewish majority. So we can only hope that justice will prevail for the Palestinian people.
Mufeed Sharabati, 50-years, Shuahda Street resident compares living in the closed military zone (CMZ) with prison – just worse: “Life here is even worse than being in jail. A prisoner knows when his sentence is over. A prisoner knows when he can have visits. No-one knows that here. We are caught between checkpoints and soldiers with no idea when it is going to end.”
From his various experiences at Shuhada checkpoint, that he crosses about four times a day, he recounts: “One day my daughter was on her way home from school. She had to go through Shuhada checkpoint, but when she entered the box, they closed the door behind her and locked both the doors in the interrogation box. This was at a time when many people were shot and had knives put next to them. I was afraid of loosing her, and she was terrified of the checkpoint after that. The soldiers checked her bag and eventually let her pass, but the fear and humiliation does not go away.”
The restrictions are clearly intended only for the registered – numbered – Palestinians, while settlers are free to do as they please within the closed military zone. “The closed military zone even made life easier for them. It only counts for Palestinians. Settlers have no checkpoints. No restrictions.”
Thursday, May 26th (Haitham Abu Aisha)
8-year old Haitham Abu Aisha explains that life in the Tel Rumeida neighbourhood inside the closed military zone for him is difficult, and they get a lot of harassment from settlers. Sometimes they would park their car in the only entrance for the family to reach their house, blocking the entrance and preventing them from reaching their home. “They beat me, once they threw a stone at my head”.
Not only the way to his house is full of obstacles and dangers, also the way to school is difficult for him. When going to school, he has to pass a military post on Shuhada Street and go up stairs that only the school-children are allowed to pass, but sometimes the soldiers would not let them pass. Just like on the 10th of May, when they arbitrarily decided that the girls were allowed to go up, but not the boys. After about 15 minutes of the teachers discussing with the soldiers, they were finally allowed to go up the stairs and start their school-day. He recounts how one day on his way home from school he was followed by a settler that had a knife.
When asked for his wishes and hopes for the future, he says: “ I want the settlers to leave and not see any checkpoints anymore.
Monday, May 24th (Sundus)
When the checkpoints are open, Sundus and many others often have trouble going in and out of them. “It is sometimes difficult to pass the checkpoint because of some specific soldiers. They search me, search my bag and sometimes shout at me. Also the Palestinians living in the area have been giving numbers by the Israeli military, which makes us able to get in. Anyone without a number is not allowed.” For Sundus’ family and the other families in the CMZ, this means that they can not have family and friends visit them.
Marwa says: “The time it takes to go through the checkpoint depends on the soldiers there. Some soldiers just want it to go fast, but others have before emptied my schoolbag on the ground in the checkpoint.” It has before been a problem for her to bring her metal ruler with her through the checkpoint to school – it beeps in the metal detector.
There is not any logic to who are stopped or when there are delays “it depends on the mood of the soliders”, explains Arwa. “Last month we were left in the rain for hours”, recounts Sundus.
Saturday, May 21st (Yara picture)
Personal account: Yara
Another resident in the Tel Rumeida neighbourhood within the closed military zone is 7-year old Yara. For her, both her home and the way to school is difficult, mainly because of settlers, but also the soldiers. “I feel scared of the settlers, once a soldier pointed a gun at my father”.
On the way to school, all the children gather to go to the school as a group with the teachers. “When I am with my teacher at a checkpoint, I’m not scared, but when I am alone, I am”. For Yara, on her way to school, she has to pass at least three checkpoints daily each way.
But even her home is not safe from harassment by Israeli forces. “Once when we were not at home, soldiers broke our door and got in the house”, she recounts. When they got back home, soldiers had not only broken the door, but also their wardrobe. In the H2-area of Hebron, that is under full Israeli control, both soldiers and settlers enjoy complete impunity for their deeds and there’s no way for Palestinians to address any of these crimes.
13th May 2016 | Open The Zone Campaign: ISM & YAS | Hebron, occupied Palestine
10 tear old Shada lives inside Hebron’s closed military zone. Watch her talk about growing uo under closures. #OpenTheZone
An old man trying to get through a checkpoint to his home.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1VkRhlMcTgk..
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Headmistress of Qurtuba school, Nora Nassar, about the hardships of having to navigate through a closed military zone and past settlements on the way to and from school and the basic human right to education of every Palestinian child.
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On a personal level, the implementation of the closed military zone affected 22-year old Sundus a lot. Sundus explains: “At first it had a really bad effect on me and also on others living in the area. I felt really scared walking in the streets because of the increased amount of Israeli soldiers and the many settlers in the area. Sometimes, I even stayed at home from university, because of the fright from the closed military zone and the chance of the checkpoint being closed going back home. I do not feel free living in here.”
On her way to university, where she studies to become an English-teacher, she has to pass both through Gilbert checkpoint and Shuhada checkpoint. After the closed military zone was implemented, Israeli forces have started shutting down checkpoints on a regular basis. This leaves people in a situation, where they have to use alternative ways. These often include climbing over walls and walking through agricultural land.
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Marwan is a 12 year old boy who describes very precise, how the closed military zone deprives him from his childhood, being exposed to violence at any time
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Ramzi, 21, talks about being a student and young man living inside the closed miltary zone on Shuhada street
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Children under 16, that do not have an ID, are not assigned a number like their parents and are thus not degraded to a number – but can also not prove that they are ‘registered’ residents in the closed military zone. Instead, if ordered by soldiers, they have to show their birth certificates.
13-year old Marwa explains: “I was once asked to prove that I live in Tel Rumeida. The soldier told me to go home and get my birth-certificate and come back. I never went back, but since then, I always bring it in my back. It does not say where I live, but there is a number on it, that they can check in the computer.”
Since the closed military zone was implemented, Marwa has become more scared of going to school, because of the checkpoint. She does not feel safe and the whole set-up of the checkpoint is frightening, as she is inside a ‘box’ where no-one on the outside can see what is happening to her.
Watch an interview with Marwa:
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To live under a closed military zone (CMZ) is something extremely stressful, annoying and unpleasant. We are few, yet many families living under this system, which was implemented half a year ago. To live under a CMZ means that you can not obtain your very basic rights, which was a problem even before that; the Palestinians who are living in H2 area in Hebron (under total Israeli control) are suffering from so many restrictions. For instance the Palestinians who are living here can not welcome visitors to their homes, no family members nor friends are allowed to enter the closed military zone unless they are registered as numbers at the checkpoint. The people who are living here can not get plumbers or electricians into their houses for repairs, some families may need to take their fridge out of their house in order to fix it then returning it, but unfortunately they cannot take their house out of the CMZ to fix it.
The CMZ is a crime against humanity, a crime against civilians whose fault is that they were born as Palestinians. Non of these families participated in any kind of violence against the soldiers or the settlers, but their life is miserable because of something that they are not responsible for. It is important that the world wakes up, and stops this crime, as the developed countries are signing their conventions about human rights, they must put pressure on whoever is violating these rights.
– Abd Elrahman Salayme, Shuhada Street resident
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10-year old Aisha about her life in the CMZ
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My name is Ahmad Azza, I’m 16 years old and I live in an area called Tel Rumeida, in the H2 area, under full Israeli military control in Hebron. Every time I go to school I have to pass 2 checkpoints. I can’t be free even in my area, I can’t go anywhere because of the soldiers and checkpoints. I live with my family next to Ramat Yishay illegal settlement (or Tel Rumeida settlement). We were attacked by Israeli settlers many times – physically, or they would throw stones, eggs and dirty water. They can easily attack eany Palestinian and soldiers would do nothing about it.
Last month, it was the worst month in 2015/16 in Palestine in general, and in Tel Rumeida and Shuhada Street in Hebron in special, because of the killing of Palestinians by Israeli forces in my area. The army closed the checkpoints, arrested many people without any reason and now the area is a closed military zone (CMZ) – no one can visit us. Only the Palestinians who live in this area can pass the checkpoint with special numbers assigned by the Israeli army and by their ID numbers. Anyone that has not been given a number – even if they live inside the area, is not allowed by the Israeli army to enter inside the area. The situation since the CMZ is getting more and more difficult.
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14-year old Mu’awya talks about the fears of living in the closed military zone in Tel Rumeida in Hebron.
had a really bad effect on me and also on others living in the area. I felt really scared walking in the streets because of the increased amount of Israeli soldiers and the many settlers in the area. Sometimes, I even stayed at home from university, because of the fright from the closed military zone and the chance of the 
To live under a closed military zone (CMZ) is something extremely stressful, annoying and unpleasant. We are few, yet many families living under this system, which was implemented half a year ago. To live under a CMZ means that you can not obtain your very basic rights, which was a problem even before that; the Palestinians who are living in H2 area in Hebron (under total Israeli control) are suffering from so many restrictions. For instance the Palestinians who are living here can not welcome visitors to their homes, no family members nor friends are allowed to enter the closed military zone unless they are registered as numbers at the checkpoint. The people who are living here can not get plumbers or electricians into their houses for repairs, some families may need to take their fridge out of their house in order to fix it then returning it, but unfortunately they cannot take their house out of the CMZ to fix it.
My name is Ahmad Azza, I’m 16 years old and I live in an area called Tel Rumeida, in the H2 area, under full Israeli military control in Hebron. Every time I go to school I have to pass 2 checkpoints. I can’t be free even in my area, I can’t go anywhere because of the soldiers and checkpoints. I live with my family next to Ramat Yishay illegal settlement (or Tel Rumeida settlement). We were attacked by Israeli settlers many times – physically, or they would th